The invention concerns a drive mechanism for a furniture portion, in particular a drawer or a door, which is mounted movably in or to a furniture item. The drive mechanism includes a drive device which is guided movably with respect to a base and which is acted upon by a force storage means, a damping device, and a retraction device. The drive device has an ejection element for moving the furniture portion from a closed end position into an open position and a locking element which is guided by a preferably heart-shaped guide track which is formed on the base.
In drive mechanisms of that kind which are known from the state of the art, it is usual for the drive device which is generally arranged on the furniture body or carcass to be coupled to the movable furniture portion, for loading the force storage means. In that case, the force storage means which is usually in the form of a spring is loaded over a part of the closing travel, wherein the energy required for that purpose is to be applied manually by the user. It has been found that that state of the art suffers from the problem that substantially more energy is introduced by the user as a consequence of exerting an excessive force on the movable furniture portion, than is required for loading the force storage means of the drive device. As a consequence of this, the locking element is moved into its locking position with a great deal of force and momentum, which, particularly when the arrangement has a heart-shaped guide track for the locking element, can have the result that locking of the drive device is released again of itself by virtue of the high speed of the movable furniture portion. In addition, as a further consequence, the movable furniture portion, when reaching the closed position, strikes against the furniture item or portions thereof.
For that purpose, it is further known for the movable furniture portion to be guided into the closed position by means of a damped retraction device, after loading and locking of the force storage means, on the part of the closing travel which is immediately prior to the closed position of the movable furniture portion. Admittedly, it is possible with such a damped retraction device to prevent the movable furniture portion from striking against the furniture item or portions thereof, but it is not possible to ensure that the locking element of the drive device is reliably arrested in a fashion which at the same time does not stress the material involved, when using such a damped retraction device which in fact comes into engagement only after locking of the force storage means.